Promoting Construction

The purpose of this campaign is to elevate construction’s profile on social media by showcasing, visually, how exciting and interesting the construction industry is, in order to improve its overall image as a respectable, innovative and welcoming industry to join.

Introduction

Social media is one of the most effective communication methods today, making it the perfect way to enhance your online presence, connect with the public and boost your brand’s profile.

Whilst a number of contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers and other construction-related organisations are using social media successfully, there is a need for the industry to speak in one voice – to promote construction.

As well as promoting your organisation and your work, the entire industry is responsible for promoting a positive image and reputation of construction as a whole. Sharing positive images and stories can shift public perception of construction from an industry dominated by cowboy builders to a professional, forward-thinking and considerate industry.

As such, the Scheme is calling for construction sites, companies, suppliers, clients and industry bodies to promote construction by uniting under one hashtag: #loveconstruction. Let’s show together all the great things that the industry is doing!

Using #loveconstruction, we will all be promoting a truly inspiring industry to help entice the next generation to come and take a look at what construction has to offer.

Inspirational images, such as amazing buildings, technology and innovation, the workforce and an industry which looks after the environment are all ways in which we can promote construction. We want people to see how construction is a fun and interesting place to work.

The aim is to create an online library of positive images and stories showcasing the very best of the construction industry to the general public and potential employees.

Here’s a few ways in which you can get involved:

Step 1: Does your company have social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook? If not, get started!

Step 2: Work with your PR, Communications and Marketing teams to obtain interesting images, videos and case studies from your projects. If you do not have these teams, think about going out to site/completed buildings to take pictures and ask colleagues to contribute case studies.

Step 3: Start posting regularly across each social media channel with consistent content and ensuring the all-important #loveconstruction is included in every relevant post!

Step 4: Join the conversation! Follow like-minded construction and other related organisations, liking, sharing, and even commenting on their content using #loveconstruction. Make sure you reply to people who engage with you on social media in order to expand your voice and your social media network.

Step 5: Shout about it! Let your workforce, clients and communities know that they can connect with you on social media and build buzz around #loveconstruction.

If this is all completely new to you, don’t worry! Use our handy social media guide to establish your social channels and come back here to explore how you can get the most out of them.

It’s a numbers game

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It’s a numbers game

Regular posting on social media is the absolute key to maintaining a strong profile.

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It’s all about networking

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It’s all about networking

Social media is, by nature, a social space and it should be used this way.

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Content is king

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Content is king

Consider social media a destination itself, not just a distribution channel.

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Images are everything

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Images are everything

Users across channels are drawn to images, so to make eye-catching content ensure you use visual cues.

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Conclusion

Hopefully the information above has provided you with a basic understanding of how social media works and how best to maximise your engagement.

But remember, your accounts are yours to run and each organisation and individual will have a different desired purpose for social media. Keep it personal and remain true to your organisation and your brand.

In your posts, make sure you join the effort to promote construction by using #loveconstruction. Engage with other organisations, working together to create an online library showcasing construction at its best.

Related links

Content is king

Consider social media as a destination itself, not just a distribution channel.

Don’t be the account that simply tweets links all day; balance self-promotion with relevant, helpful and entertaining content which keeps the user engaged.

How to do this

Keywords: make your content stand out from the crowd by using relevant keywords so you can be found by people searching for topics related to your industry.

Hashtags: these can be divided into branded (e.g. #ccsawards), industry (e.g. #loveconstruction) and trending (e.g. #FridayFeeling). Balance your use of hashtags, staying on brand and on topic while occasionally joining trending conversations. Do not use too many or too few – research from Buddy Media suggests1-2 hashtags on Twitter increases engagement by 21%, but 3+ hashtags decreases engagement by 17%.

Calls to action: use words which prompt the reader to do something, whether that is answer a survey, buy a product, attend an event etc. Address the user using the word ‘you’ and make user benefit clear through words like ‘free’, ‘new’, ‘hurry’, ‘now’, ‘last chance’, ‘share’, ‘reply’ etc.

Test different headlines: when sharing links, try sharing the same content multiple times across a few days but with text targeted at different groups e.g. potential employees, clients, members of the public etc.

Images are everything

Users across channels are drawn to images, so to make eye-catching content ensure you use visual cues.

How to do this

Make it personal: On Instagram, pictures with faces get 38% more likes than those without. Personal stories help users relate to your content.

Get your message across: ensure images are relevant to your message e.g. for promoting construction career opportunities show images of varied roles and ‘day in the life’ videos; to promote the industry in general use interesting on-site images of machinery and technology and time-lapse videos.

Image size: make sure any images you use are correctly sized to avoid stretching and blurring. See this Sprout Social guide for more information.

Need ideas for images? Try some of these:

Sites creating an excellent first impression with attractive and interesting hoardings.

Roles in construction the public may not be aware of e.g. drone pilot, archaeologist, software engineer, diver, nurse, etc.

Machinery and technology used in construction e.g. virtual reality devices.

High-standard welfare facilities and recreational spaces on sites.

Views the general public will not see e.g. heights, birds eye views, tunnels, demolition.

Interesting locations for construction work e.g. top of mountains, off shore, underwater, historic buildings etc.

Happy, diverse teams working together on a project.

‘Day in the life’ videos following apprentices and other people with interesting jobs.

Time-lapse videos from initial works to completion.

Close It’s a numbers game

It’s a numbers game

Regular posting on social media is the absolute key to maintaining a strong profile.

Your followers are probably following hundreds of people, so if you are not posting regularly, your content can easily become lost. More posts typically results in more followers, and a high follower count helps to establish you as a ‘trusted’ authority.

How to do this

Posting schedule: plan how often you will publish on each social media channel, what type of content you plan to publish and any influencer outreach. If you have the resources, use scheduling software to put this plan into action.

Analyse trends: examine your posts to determine the best day of the week and best time of day to post, so that your content reaches as many people as possible. This guide from Sprout Social maps overall social media engagement in an average week, organised by channel and industry.

Know your channel: for example, one Tweet a day is not enough, but Instagram and LinkedIn move slower so one a day may be acceptable.

It’s all about networking

Social media is, by nature, a social space and it should be used this way.

The world of social media moves fast and you don’t want to be left behind. Make connections with like-minded individuals and organisations, interact with them and expand your online network.

How to do this

Interact: Reply to other people’s posts, especially if they mention or tag you; share, like and comment on relevant posts; mention other people/organisations in your posts; host polls on Twitter to encourage interaction.

Target influencers: identify individuals with particular sway within your industry and work with them to expand your network. This could include shares, shout-outs or even ‘takeovers’ where an individual takes over your Twitter/Instagram account for a day.

Join communities: Twitter chats, LinkedIn groups and Facebook groups help establish your organisation as an authority and interact with influencers to encourage them to share your content.

Start weekly, monthly and quarterly tracking: Impressions, visits and mentions on Twitter; impressions, clicks and interactions on LinkedIn; likes, comments, mentions on Instagram and reach and engagement for Facebook. If things aren’t going right, have a look at similar accounts and borrow ideas to improve engagement.